Authority Certificates

An Authority Certificate is a legal document that protects sacred sites from damage by setting out the conditions for carrying out specific works on an area of land and/or sea.

Section 22 of the Sacred Sites Act provides two bases upon which the Authority can issue an Authority Certificate, namely, where it is satisfied that: 

(a) the work or use of the land could proceed without a substantive risk of damage to or interference with a sacred site; or

(b) an agreement has been reached between the custodians and the applicant about the proposed work or use.

In either case, an Authority Certificate issued by the Authority must:

• describe any restricted work areas; and

• in accordance with the wishes of, or an agreement with, the custodians, set out the conditions (if any) for the proposed works. 

Although not mandatory (except in relation to onshore petroleum exploration and mining activities, including fracking), Authority Certificates operate as an effective risk management tool for proponents and an effective site protection tool for custodians.

In particular, Authority Certificates:

• ensure proponents are aware of any sacred sites on or near the area of their proposed use or works;

• ensure custodians are aware of proposals to access, use or work on their sacred sites;

• permit proponents to access, use and work on sacred sites, subject to any conditions imposed by the Authority in accordance with the wishes of custodians (thus ensuring certainty to both proponents and custodians); and

• provide proponents with a defence to a prosecution brought by the Authority for an offence against s 34(1) of the Sacred Sites Act.

It is important that applicants provide as much detail as possible about the proposed works under application. The final Authority Certificate will be issued only for the proposal specified by the applicant, and any use or works not specified on the Authority Certificate will fall outside of the legal protection afforded by the Authority Certificate.

An application cannot be processed until a boundary is determined. The AAPA may refuse an application if insufficient information is provided.

All applications are charged a lodgement fee of 57 revenue units. Please note GST is not applicable.

Once an application is submitted, the Authority will issue an estimate of cost to the applicant. Work on the application will not commence until costs are accepted.

Costs are based on staff time, travel expenses, Aboriginal custodian fees and administration costs as defined by the NT Aboriginal Sacred Sites Regulations.

The AAPA does not make a profit from the charges and only recovers the cost of processing Authority Certificate applications.